Under The Stars
by Clez
Summary: Faith takes a walk...


Note: Set in Season One  
* * *  
Faith Yokas had decided to take a walk, her feet trudging subconsciously through the snow that had decided to start falling about half an hour ago, chilling everything it touched, but bringing its own secret touch of warmth down from the heavens from which it fell. She looked up for a brief moment, seeing the clouds breaking for a few seconds so that the stars shone down on her, bringing with them a smile that touched her lips for a fraction of time that filled her with happiness... and then was gone again.  
  
It had been a long shift, and tough too. There hadn't been a scrap of happiness in the whole damn day, and it was depressing. It got her down, seeing so much death and destruction, watching with her own two eyes as the world around her slowly started to fall apart piece by piece. And what depressed her most was that the younger half of society performed a majority of the crime and torment that filled their streets. More and more kids were circling the drain of society.  
  
Faith snuggled into her scarf and hat, reaching up with a gloved hand to pull down the woolly piece of clothing that covered her fine hair. She smiled at the small amount of warmth that it brought in the chill of New York. It seemed to be getting colder by the day, and she was starting to feel it in her bones.  
  
She was starting to see it in the streets too. More and more people were wrapping up in thick coats that brought comfort, topped off with hats scarves and gloves to complete the package.  
  
All apart from the tough few who seemed to think that if they looked intimidating enough, they could frighten off the chill. She sighed at the thought, knowing that one such man was her partner, Maurice Boscorelli... or Bosco as he insisted he should be called.  
  
As she walked slowly through the fine dust of white flakes of snow that had settled on the sidewalk, her mind cast back on the day's events. It had been pretty damn hectic from the get-go.  
  
It had all started with a call to a domestic disturbance that had ended in them arriving too late, and finding one dead woman in a family apartment, the children looking on at the father who stood there, hands shaking, eyes staring coldly at the dead body of his wife. Seeing the looks of utter despair on those young kids' faces had torn into Faith like a blade, and she had had to take them out of the room before the sight ripped her apart. Their little faces had been set in stone; mouths open in horror, eyes wide with shock that their beloved 'daddy' could have done something so horrible to their mother.  
  
Bosco had dealt with the man, having no trouble in placing him under arrest, and removing him from the scene, calling for an ambulance at the same time. Faith hadn't really known what to do with the kids, but pretty soon after Bosco had taken the man away; a neighbour had arrived, claiming that she knew the children's aunt, whom she would contact immediately. Faith had asked her to contact the station when she had done so, and the woman had agreed solemnly.  
  
What had followed wasn't much better. A call to another apartment, on the less profitable side of town, where a man had been missing for close on nine days. They had gone in, finding the remains of the resident inside, making Faith sick to her stomach. That had put her right of anything edible or consumable for the rest of the day.  
  
She remembered the call from a girl who had been harassed by some creepy guy in the park, and they had found him not far away, doped up on some sort of drug that Faith didn't care to know about. They had taken him to the station, locked him up until he came down off his high.  
  
The rest of the day had been no better in any shape way or form. More attacks, two more DOAs, and a robbery. That was all... nothing that they could have helped with at all.  
  
What's the point?  
  
She was shocked with her thought, and stopped immediately as soon as it floated into her mind, frowning deeply at it. Where had that come from all of a sudden? Normally she felt as though she had made a difference out there... but not today. There hadn't really been much to make her feel big about herself.  
  
Maybe it was just a bad day, she realised, and carried on her way. She held out a gloved hand, and watched the snow fall onto it for a while as she walked, smiling as each new flake landed, then finding her happiness slipped away as they, one by one, melted out of existence.  
  
She lowered her hand, and tried to shut out the noise of a siren as it wailed past. Ambulance, she registered, but lost interest after that. She was done for the day, and more than ready to get home to her family.  
  
Faith couldn't wait to hold her kids, to go into their rooms and kiss them goodnight, see their little faces light up at the sight of their mom home safely from another day of dangerous work on the streets of New York.  
  
Fred was another matter entirely. He never really seemed bothered about her coming home. He was always half-tanked when she got home anyway, and that got her down too, on top of all the tragedy she witnessed whilst working. Her husband's drinking was depressing to say the least, to think that he resorted to beer to brighten his evenings when his wife was away earning money.  
  
Bosco usually tried to cheer her up about her family problems... in his own way. He never really seemed to address the problem face on, rather dance around it subtlely, hinting at sympathy and concern for Faith, and she appreciated that she at least got that much from him. They were good friends, she knew that. They had worked together so long, she wasn't surprised they had grown so close. They practically knew everything about one another.  
  
But there was still a lot she didn't know about her partner, and she wasn't one to pry. If he wanted to share -which he quite often did, but about all the wrong things- then that was his business. He was constantly telling her about what women he had scored with, and how bad his hangover was... Faith didn't really care to know, but just out of politeness she pretended she was interested... to a certain point. When it got way too personal, she stopped him, changed the subject, moved the conversation along.  
  
Why does everything seem to be getting me down lately? she asked herself, knowing she wasn't going to get an easy reply.  
  
Because life is depressing? Because you're an easy person to depress? Because you're negative?  
  
No, she thought, that's not it. It's something else.  
  
But what?  
  
She had no idea... no clue whatsoever. After a while debating it internally, she decided that it was probably because she had had such a crappy day. But still, she knew she would go home, and when Fred asked, she would tell him everything was fine. Then, as he had once pointed out, she would go take her usual bath.  
  
Faith knew she would wake up in the morning, ready to send her kids off to school, and everything would seem fine. Then she would go to work at three, and she would act her normal self, as though the events of the previous day hadn't jarred her inside, hadn't made her seriously consider giving it all up.  
  
The amount of times she had given real thought to becoming a housewife and letting Fred earn the keep was frightening. Did the others do this, or was it just her? She didn't know... she supposed she wouldn't. Not unless she asked anyway, which she wasn't about to do, considering it was pretty personal.  
  
She stopped once again, her eyes turning upward, and forced a smile at the sight of the stars peeking out from behind the clouds once again, and it seemed for a moment as though they were watching her, and suddenly she didn't feel so bad anymore.  
  
She suddenly felt a little happier... as though the day hadn't been filled with misery and woe, as though tomorrow would bring better things and a brighter side of New York.  
  
The stars started to hide once again behind their shroud, and she continued on her way once again, realising she was almost at the end of her journey.  
  
One more corner, and a brief walk down the street, and she would be home.  
  
When she got to her door, she was still smiling. 


End file.
